Nonsense on Stilts in Capital Litigation

John Schwartz has this article in the NYT on the latest in the anti-DP movement's efforts to litigate every nook and cranny of the process just to bog it down. The State of Arizona has located an alternate source of the drug used for lethal injection. They don't want to reveal the source, as they know that company will be pressured not to sell it for executions. So of course the anti side sees this as another opportunity to litigate, litigate, litigate.

Claims that lethal injection drugs need to comply with the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act are absurd, as I am quoted saying in the article. That act is intended to ensure that drugs used for healing patients are safe and effective, and the whole point of an execution is to end the murderer's life. The article also quotes FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess saying executions are "clearly not under our purview or authority."

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The real problem is the judges who let it happen. And "judges" include Justices of the Supreme Court.

Simply put, any fair reading of Baze shows that discovery into the state's acquisition of thiopental is simply not allowed. The murderer has to make a showing first. "Let me do a fishing expedition" ain't a showing.